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8A - Wednesday, March U7, 2010

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

ICE HOCKEY
A statistical mystery of
Michigan goaltending

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Bryan Hogan should know a
little bit about how Shawn
Hunwick is feeling right
now.
No, Hogan never earned the
timeless "Rudy"
moniker that
Michigan coach
Red Berenson
has bestowed
upon Hunwick
in light of the
junior walk-
on goalie's 5-1i RYAN
record thus far KARTJE
as a Wolverine.
And Hogan,
unlike Hunwick, had started a col-
legiate hockey game before he took
over for Billy Sauer as the starter in
goal last season. Hunwick, on the
other hand, had little more than
garbage time experience before
Hogan's injury two weeks ago.
But the Hogan of last season and
the Hunwick of this season look
nearly identical on the stat sheet
thus far.
And despite both of their valiant
performances, most of that statis-
tical wonder has little to do with
their own performances between
the pipes.
Instead, it has everything to do
with how the Wolverines played
around them.
In the six games after Hogan
took over for Sauer on Dec. 5, 2008
against Michigan State, Michigan
scored a staggering 30 goals, aver-
aging five goals per game.
In the same period of time this
season, the offense surrounding
Hunwick has registered 28 goals,
which amounts to 4.5 goals per
game. Another staggeringnumber.
For perspective's sake, that
number would be good enough for
tops in the NCAA in either year - a
goal or half-goal in both cases.
To be fair, this year's offense
wasn't exactly reeling before Hun-
wick stood tall in net, lighting the
lamp an average of 3.2 times per
game. Today, that number would

be goo
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Louie C
ing 11g
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The
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TheI
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way the
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1
guc
I don
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or what
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Wha
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responi
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Whe
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A sea
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wick's d

I for 22nd nationally. goals in six games - just one-and-
an offensive explosion like a-half goals per game.
lverines have experienced As you may have already expect-
te is still amazing in com- ed, no other team in college hockey
. Maybe that has to do with was playing that well on defense.
aporusso's rebirth, notch- You get the point. Last year,
oals in 15 games and looking with Hogan in net, the Wolverines
ey Baker form. immediately became a better team.
fact that this happened last Not because Sauer was a lesser
though, when Michigan goalie, but because they simply
ted Berenson openly admit- played better around Hogan.
t he had no idea why his This year, Hunwick hasn't had
ored more for Hogan than to stop many good scoring oppor-
eads me to an entirely dif- tunities like Hogan had to do early
onclusion. this season. But the team around
Wolverines are simply play- him is playing a much more com-
der, more inspired hockey plete game, and his nearly flawless
unwick in net. The same record to this point has shown it.
ey did when Hogan took The Wolverines even have a shot
r Sauer. at the NCAA Tournament, despite
flirting with .500 for a lot of the
season.
That sense of I don't necessarily think Hun-
wick is a better goalie than Hogan
irgency? . J by any means. In a few instances,
Hunwick has given up goals just as
.ss this is what soft, if not softer, than Hogan did
earlier in the season.
you meant. But the truth is, this team is
playing its best hockey with a walk-
on between the pipes. It doesn't
make sense. But it's the truth.
it know if it's the mental- And coaches, maybe this is a
they needed to account for sign that your team needs to keep
a walk-on, career backup its motivation no matter who is in
n net that led for the change net. That sense of urgency you've
. The truth is, we'll never talked about all year? I guess this is
or sure. what you meant.
t's even more difficult to So despite the fact that Hogan
s the way each defense was in full pads during Monday's
ded when either backup practice, seeing a few shots here
ook over for the team's orig- and there, he shouldn't necessarily
rter. And in a season full of play this weekend. In fact, if Hogan
chieving defense, the fact plays, the Wolverines probably
inwick in goal has turned it won't be in the tournament.
should pique the interests Because Shawn Hunwick is the
eam's coaches. goalie that might convince this
n Sauer was benched for team to play its best game of the
st season, the Wolverines season, get past Miami (Ohio) on
owed six goals in Hogan's Friday and maybe even secure a bid
games - just one goal per in the NCAA Tournament.
Just don't ask me why.

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Sophomores Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson and freshman Devin Gardner at yesterday's first spring practice.
Spring practice beginS
Rodriguez talks QBs

son later, while Hogan
d from the sideline, Hun-
lefense only allowed nine

By TIM ROHAN competition this spring."
Daily Sports Writer Forcier and Robinson both had
to play significant roles for the
This spring, just like last spring, Wolverines last season as true
all eyes will be on the three-head- freshmen, so now with Gardner,
ed quarterback monster that is the Rodriguez has the luxury of play-
Michigan football team. ing the best player at quarterback
And that's why it was one of and bringing his newest true fresh-
the more popu- man along without any pressure.
lar topics Michi- NOTEBOOK "Tate and Denard played last
gan coach Rich year as true freshmen and did an
Rodriguez addressed before the admirable job," Rodriguez said.
Wolverines' first spring practice on "But Tate and Denard aren't going
Tuesday afternoon. to back up. They're going to get
Rodriguez said that sophomore better, and Devin's got a job to do
quarterbacks Denard Robinson to beat them out."
and Tate Forcier will get the major- SPRING PRACTICE GOALS:
ity of snaps in the spring because With the weather getting warmer,
early-enrollee Devin Gardner still Tuesday felt like a subdued football
has things to learn before he is at Saturday early in October.
the other quarterbacks' level. This spring, Rodriguez and
"This will be the first practice his staff will have evaluations to
for (Gardner) today, and I'm sure make, schemes to implement and
his head will be spinning the first players to watch. And specifically,
couple of weeks, but he's a very, Rodriguez touched on five goals
very competitive guy, very intel- the Wolverine coaching staff has
ligent," Rodriguez said. "We'll for its players - two of which deal
throw all three of them in the mix." directly with spring practice.
Forcier started all 12 games for "One is getting fundamentally
Michigan last season, while Rob- better at your position, learning
inson was used as a change-up your position," Rodriguez said.
to challenge opposing defenses. "Two, the other goal regarding
Robinson was more of a run-first spring practice, is to prove that we
option last year for the Wolverines, can win with you. Prove it to the
running the ball more than twice coaches and prove it to your team-
as much as he threw it. mates."
And Robinson was effective Rodriguez now has two full
when he carried the ball, finishing recruiting classes under his belt
fourth on the team with 409 yards heading into spring practice, and
and averaging 5.1 yards per carry. he has just 12 seniors to lead the
His strengths outside of the pocket squad this year. Last spring, he did
have forced Rodriguez to recon- not hesitate to play younger play-
sider where Robinson can help the ers; spring practice is an oppor-
Wolverines this coming season. tunity for players to improve and
"We'll do some different things prove themselves to the coaching
with Denard," Rodriguez said. "I staff. Because some early-enrollees
think he's too explosive when he's could again certainly see signifi-
not playing quarterback to have cant playing time as true freshmen
him standing beside me. He's going this fall, Rodriguez will use the
to learn quarterback - that's where same strategy this spring.
he'll be a majority of the time. ... "At the end of the 15 days, (we
With his kind of speed and his ball hope) that our guys have gotten
skills, I think we can move him better fundamentally," Rodriguez
around a little bit. said. "There are some guys in our
"Again, we expect him to com- program that this is a very criti-
pete for the quarterback job. He cal spring for them to prove to us
and Tate, and for Devin to come in, that hey, they're going to be a guy
there should be some pretty good we can count on in a two-deep

offense, defense or maybe play spe-
cial teams."
Injuries and position changes:
One important storyline for Michi-
gan in its preparation for the 2010
season is how a few key Wolverines
bounce back from serious injuries.
Sophomore running back Vin-
cent Smith (torn ACL), junior
defensive tackle Mike Martin
(shoulder) and redshirt junior cen-
ter David Molk (torn ACL) will
miss all of spring practice due to
injuries.
Redshirt junior wide receiver
Junior Hemingway and redshirt
junior linebacker Brandon Herron
will miss part of the spring prac-
tices.
Aside from injuries, there are a
few early position changes to note.
Redshirt freshman Cameron Gor-
don was moved from receiver to
safety and sophomore Teric Jones
was kept at safety instead of being
moved back to offense to create
some depth in the defensive back-
field.
Position versatility will also be
important on both sides of the ball.
Rodriguez said some of the slot
receivers could see time at running
back and that both fifth-year senior
Greg Banks and redshirt junior
Ryan Van Bergen will play both
defensive end and tackle.
Senior Troy Woolfolk and red-
shirt freshman Justin Turner
could also play multiple positions
at the back end of the defense.
Both will primarily play corner-
back, but Rodriguez said the two
could play a little bit at safety as
well.
NOTES: Rodriguez said redshirt ;
senior Nick Sheridan has "retired
from football" and hopes to enter
the coaching profession. Sheri-
dan is not allowed to work with
the Wolverines now because he's
still a student. ... This past Satur-
day, Michigan held a 40-yard dash
sprint race among teammates.
Fifth-year senior Adam Patterson
won the 270-pound-plus division
and junior Martavious Odoms won
the faster heat, barely beating Rob-
inson.

Kartje can be reached
at rkartje@umich.edu

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The deadine is M rch 26
t64 6

SOFTBALL
Viefhaus and Findlay embrace
role as Blue's captains this year

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By CASANDRA PAGNI
Daily Sports Writer
Every.time the Michigan soft-
ball team takes the field, it takes a
little bit of the past with it.
With six seniors heading this
year's squad, the experienced
Wolverines have plenty of games
under their belts. The leaders of
the team- senior captains Angela
Findlay and Maggie Viefhaus -
believe that remembering the past
is important. That way they will be
able to learn from every situation,
good or bad.
"It's crazy being a senior,
because you feel like you've liter-
ally gone through it all," Viefhaus
said. "You've hit rock bottom,
you've hit your peaks, and you
can only get better and learn from
those experiences. You can't dwell
on them. I think that's what I've
improved on most, just moving on.
If something doesn't go my way, I
move on from it. I try and find posi-
tives out of everythingI do."
Findlay and Viefhaus know
that their position on the team is
slightly different from the rest of
the upperclassmen. While their
biggest job is to help the rest of the
team improve as a whole, the two
captains must also be the ones to
discuss any issues that arise dur-
ing the season. The captains are

aware of the difficulty that lies
in addressing a four-year starter
about their mental or physical
preparations.
"Obviously it's a big honor to be
captain," Findlay said. "I mean,
you come into a school that has had
a lot of success, especially in soft-
ball. But it's also a huge responsi-
bility. You have tobe someone that
is willing to tell your teammates
things that maybe they don't want
to hear, and also be able to tell
yourself that."
But the duo knows the special
role to which their teammates
have elected them and aspire to
set the tone for the team, starting
with their focus and motivation at
practice.
"That's the challenge that Ilove,
that even when you don't feel your
greatest, you still have to perform
to the best of your ability because
your teammates are looking up to
you," Viefhaus said. "I love to be
able to come through for my team,
to play for Michigan, to play for my
teammates."
The two captains have translat-
ed their leadership into game-time
performance as well. Viefhaus
- the third baseman - leads the
team at the plate, hitting .368.
Findlay, the right-fielder, is close
behind, batting .324. And together,
the duo has started all 22 games for

the Wolverines this season, driv-
ing in a combined 40 RBI thus far.
After losing to Georgia in
game three of the Women's Col-
lege World Series last season,
this year's Michigan squad wants
an improved postseason perfor-
mance. But the veteran Wolver-
ines know that they must take it
one game at a time, taking care
of business in their difficult non-
conference and Big Ten schedules
before they can look ahead to the
postseason.
Even in its current 10-game
win streak, the Michigan captains
refuse to let the team take any-
thing for granted.
They remember their past three
seasons as Wolverines, and know
that until the last out is recorded,
anything can happen.
"The biggest thing that I've
learned throughout the time I've
been here is that anybody can beat
anyone on any given day," Findlay
said. "We've had some really good
teams here who have lost to teams
that on paper weren't nearly as
good as we were. But I've learned
that you need to go out there and
treat every opponent the same.
You can't take any day for grant-
ed, not practice, games, not any-
thing. You've just really got to go
out there every day and focus, one
pitch at a time."

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t